1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a temporary service identifier (TSI) for identifying a specific point-to-multipoint service among a plurality of point-to-multipoint services being transmitted through a specific transport channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, mobile communication systems have developed remarkably, but for high capacity data communication services, the performance of mobile communication systems cannot match that of existing wired communication systems. Accordingly, technical developments for IMT-2000, which is a communication system allowing high capacity data communications, are being made and standardization of such technology is being actively pursued among various companies and organizations.
A universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) is a third generation mobile communication system that has evolved from a European standard known as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). The UMTS aims to provide improved mobile communication service based on a GSM core network and wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) wireless connection technology.
In December 1998, ETSI of Europe, ARIB/TTC of Japan, T1 of the United States, and TTA of Korea formed a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for creating the detailed specifications of the UMTS technology.
Within the 3GPP, in order to achieve rapid and efficient technical development of the UMTS, five technical specification groups (TSG) have been created for performing the standardization of the UMTS by considering the independent nature of the network elements and their operations.
Each TSG develops, approves, and manages the standard specification within a related region. Among these groups, the radio access network (RAN) group (TSG-RAN) develops the standards for the functions, requirements, and interface of the UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), which is a new radio access network for supporting W-CDMA access technology in the UMTS.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary basic structure of a general UMTS network. As shown in FIG. 1, the UMTS is roughly divided into a terminal (or user equipment: UE), a UTRAN 100, and a core network (CN) 200.
The UTRAN 100 includes one or more radio network sub-systems (RNS) 110, 120. Each RNS 110, 120 includes a radio network controller (RNC) 111, and a plurality of base stations or Node-Bs 112, 113 managed by the RNC 111. The RNC 111 handles the assigning and managing of radio resources, and operates as an access point with respect to the core network 200.
The Node-Bs 112, 113 receive information sent by the physical layer of the terminal through an uplink, and transmit data to the terminal through a downlink. The Node-Bs 112, 113, thus, operate as access points of the UTRAN 100 for the terminal.
A primary function of the UTRAN 100 is forming and maintaining a radio access bearer (RAB) to allow communication between the terminal and the core network 200. The core network 200 applies end-to-end quality of service (QoS) requirements to the RAB, and the RAB supports the QoS requirements set by the core network 200. As the UTRAN 100 forms and maintains the RAB, the QoS requirements of end-to-end are satisfied. The RAB service can be further divided into an lu bearer service and a radio bearer service. The lu bearer service supports a reliable transmission of user data between boundary nodes of the UTRAN 100 and the core network 200.
The core network 200 includes a mobile switching center (MSC) 210 and a gateway mobile switching center (GMSC) 220 connected together for supporting a circuit switched (CS) service, and a serving GPRS support node (SGSN) 230 and a gateway GPRS support node 240 connected together for supporting a packet switched (PS) service.
The services provided to a specific terminal are roughly divided into the circuit switched (CS) services and the packet switched (PS) services. For example, a general voice conversation service is a circuit switched service, while a Web browsing service via an Internet connection is classified as a packet switched (PS) service.
For supporting circuit switched services, the RNCs 111 are connected to the MSC 210 of the core network 200, and the MSC 210 is connected to the GMSC 220 that manages the connection with other networks.
For supporting packet switched services, the RNCs 111 are connected to the SGSN 230 and the GGSN 240 of the core network 200. The SGSN 230 supports the packet communications going toward the RNCs 111, and the GGSN 240 manages the connection with other packet switched networks, such as the Internet.
Various types of interfaces exist between network components to allow the network components to transmit and receive information to and from each other for mutual communication therebetween. An interface between the RNC 111 and the core network 200 is defined as an lu interface. In particular, the lu interface between the RNCs 111 and the core network 200 for packet switched systems is defined as “lu-PS,” and the lu interface between the RNCs 111 and the core network 200 for circuit switched systems is defined as “lu-CS.”
FIG. 2 illustrates a structure of a radio interface protocol between the terminal and the UTRAN according to the 3GPP radio access network standards.
As shown in FIG. 2, the radio interface protocol has horizontal layers comprising a physical layer, a data link layer, and a network layer, and has vertical planes comprising a user plane (U-plane) for transmitting user data and a control plane (C-plane) for transmitting control information.
The user plane is a region that handles traffic information of the user, such as voice or Internet protocol (IP) packets, while the control plane is a region that handles control information for an interface of a network, maintenance and management of a call, and the like.
The protocol layers in FIG. 2 can be divided into a first layer (L1), a second layer (L2), and a third layer (L3) based on three lower layers of an open system interconnection (OSI) standard model. Each layer will be described in more detail as follows.
The first layer (L1), namely, the physical layer, provides an information transfer service to an upper layer by using various radio transmission techniques. The physical layer is connected to an upper layer called a medium access control (MAC) layer, via a transport channel. The MAC layer and the physical layer send and receive data with one another via the transport channel.
The second layer (L2) includes a MAC layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a broadcast/multicast control (BMC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer.
The MAC layer provides an allocation service of the MAC parameters for allocation and re-allocation of radio resources. The MAC layer is connected to an upper layer called the radio link control (RLC) layer, via a logical channel.
Various logical channels are provided according to the kind of transmitted information. In general, when information of the control plane is transmitted, a control channel is used. When information of the user plane is transmitted, a traffic channel is used. A logical channel may be a common channel or a dedicated channel depending on whether the logical channel is shared. Logical channels include a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH), a dedicated control channel (DCCH), a common traffic channel (CTCH), a common control channel (CCCH), a broadcast channel (BCCH) and a paging control channel (PCCH) or a Shared Channel Control Channel (SHCCH). The BCCH provides information including information utilized by a terminal to access a system. The PCCH is used by the UTRAN to access a terminal.
For the purposes of MBMS, additional traffic and control channels exist. For example, an MCCH (MBMS point-to-multipoint Control Channel) is used for transmitting MBMS control information while an MTCH (MBMS point-to-multipoint Traffic Channel) is used for transmitting MBMS service data. Additionally, an MSCH (MBMS point-to-multipoint Scheduling Channel) is four transmitting scheduling information.
The MAC layer is connected to the physical layer by transport channels and can be divided into a MAC-b sub-layer, a MAC-d sub-layer, a MAC-c/sh sub-layer, and a MAC-hs sub-layer according to the type of transport channel to be managed. The MAC-b sub-layer manages a BCH (Broadcast Channel), which is a transport channel handling the broadcasting of system information. The MAC-d sub-layer manages a dedicated channel (DCH), which is a dedicated transport channel for a specific terminal. Accordingly, the MAC-d sub-layer of the UTRAN is located in a serving radio network controller (SRNC) that manages a corresponding terminal, and one MAC-d sub-layer also exists within each terminal (UE).
The MAC-c/sh sub-layer manages a common transport channel, such as a forward access channel (FACH) or a downlink shared channel (DSCH), which is shared by a plurality of terminals. In the UTRAN, the MAC-c/sh sub-layer is located in a controlling radio network controller (CRNC). As the MAC-c/sh sub-layer manages the channel being shared by all terminals within a cell region, a single MAC-c/sh sub-layer exists for each cell region. Also, one MAC-c/sh sublayer exists in each terminal (UE).
The RLC layer supports reliable data transmissions, and performs a segmentation and concatenation function on a plurality of RLC service data units (RLC SDUs) delivered from an upper layer. When the RLC layer receives the RLC SDUs from the upper layer, the RLC layer adjusts the size of each RLC SDU in an appropriate manner upon considering processing capacity, and then creates certain data units with header information added thereto. The created data units are called protocol data units (PDUs), which are then transferred to the MAC layer via a logical channel. The RLC layer includes a RLC buffer for storing the RLC SDUs and/or the RLC PDUs.
The BMC layer schedules a cell broadcast message (referred to as a ‘CB message’, hereinafter) received from the core network, and broadcasts the CB messages to terminals located in a specific cell(s). The BMC layer of the UTRAN generates a broadcast/multicast control (BMC) message by adding information, such as a message ID (identification), a serial number, and a coding scheme to the CB message received from the upper layer, and transfers the BMC message to the RLC layer. The BMC messages are transferred from the RLC layer to the MAC layer through a logical channel, i.e., the CTCH (Common Traffic Channel). The CTCH is mapped to a transport channel, i.e., a FACH, which is mapped to a physical channel, i.e., a S-CCPCH (Secondary Common Control Physical Channel).
The PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) layer, as a higher layer of the RLC layer, allows the data transmitted through a network protocol (such as an IPv4 or IPv6) to be effectively transmitted on a radio interface with a relatively small bandwidth. To achieve this, the PDCP layer performs the function of reducing unnecessary control information used for a wired network, and this type of function is called, header compression.
There is a radio resource control (RRC) layer at a lowermost portion of the L3 layer. The RRC layer is defined only in the control plane, and handles the controlling of logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels with respect to setting, resetting, and releasing of radio bearers. The radio bearer service refers to a service that the second layer (L2) provides for data transmission between the terminal and the UTRAN, and in general, setting the radio bearer refers to defining the protocol layers and the channel characteristics of the channels required for providing a specific service, as well as respectively setting substantial parameters and operation methods.
The RLC layer can belong to the user plane or to the control plane depending upon the type of layer connected at the upper layer of the RLC layer. That is, if the RLC layer receives data from the RRC layer, the RLC layer belongs to the control plane. Otherwise, the RLC layer belongs to the user plane.
The MAC header will now be described in greater detail. FIG. 3 shows a structure of a MAC layer for the UTRAN. FIGS. 4 to 7 show structures of the MAC-d and MAC-c/sh sublayer of the UTRAN, in which the square blocks show each function of the MAC layer. The primary functions thereof will now be described.
The MAC layer exists between the RLC and physical layers and its major function is to map the logical channels and transport channels to each other. The MAC layer needs such channel mapping because a channel handling method of a higher layer of the MAC layer is different from that of a lower layer of the MAC layer. Namely, in the higher layer of the MAC layer, channels are divided into control channels of the control plane and traffic channels of the user plane according to the content of data transferred on the channel. However, in the lower layer of the MAC layer, channels are divided into common channels and dedicated channels according to how the channels are shared. Therefore, channel mapping between the higher and lower layers of the MAC layer is very significant. The relationship of channel mapping is shown in FIG. 4, which illustrates a diagram of the channel mapping in a UE.
Another major function of the MAC layer is logical channel multiplexing. The MAC layer multiplexes several logical channels into one transport channel, so that a multiplexing gain is attained. Multiplexing gain is significant for intermittently transmitted traffic, such as signaling information or packet data. For circuit data, multiplexing is generally not used because data is continuously transferred, and as a result, the multiplexing gain is relatively not so high.
The channel mapping and logical channel multiplexing functions of the MAC layer are advantageous in increasing both the flexibility of channel selection and the efficiency of channel resources, but to support these advantages, certain kinds of identification functions are required.
Identification is classified into two types: UE identification and logical channel identification. First, UE identification is needed for a common transport channel, since it is shared by a plurality of UEs. Second, logical channel identification is needed when several logical channel are multiplexed into one transport channel. For identification purposes, the MAC layer inserts a TCTF (target channel type field), UE-Id Type, UE-Id and/or C/T (Control/Traffic) fields into the header of a MAC PDU.
In more detail, UE identification is required when a dedicated logical channel such as DCCH or DTCH is mapped to a common transport channel such as CPCH, DSCH, or USCH. To achieve this, the MAC layer adds a RNTI (radio network temporary identity) to the UE-ID field of the MAC PDU header. Currently, three kinds of RNTI such as U-RNTI (UTRAN RNTI), C-RNTI (cell RNTI), and DSCH-RNTI are used to identify a specific UE. Since there are three kinds of RNTI that are used, a UE-ID type field informing which RNTI is used is also added to the MAC PDU header.
For logical channel identification, two levels of logical channel identification are applied. The first level is logical channel type identification provided by the TCTF (target channel type field), and the second level is dedicated logical channel identification provided by the C/T (Control/Traffic) field.
The TCTF is required for a common transport channel like the FACH and RACH on which several types of logical channels are multiplexed. For example, the BCCH, CCCH, CTCH, and one or more dedicated logical channels (DCCH or DTCH) can be mapped on the FACH simultaneously, and the CCCH and one or more dedicated logical channels can be mapped on RACH simultaneously. Therefore, the TCTF provides logical channel type identification on the FACH and RACH, i.e., whether the received data on the FACH or RACH belongs to the BCCH, CCCH, CTCH, or one of the dedicated logical channels.
Although the TCTF identifies the type of logical channel, it does not identify each of the logical channels. The TCTF is required for the transport channel when a dedicated logical channel can be mapped together with other logical channels. Thus, the TCTF identifies whether the logical channel is a dedicated logical channel or other logical channel. However, for common logical channels, since only one common logical channel of the same type can be mapped on a single transport channel, the TCTF also provides logical channel identification in the case of common logical channels.
On the contrary, more than one dedicated logical channel can be mapped to the FACH or RACH at the same time. In other words, several DCCHs or DTCHs can be mapped to the FACH or RACH. Therefore, for dedicated logical channels, identification of each dedicated logical channel is needed in addition to the identification of the type of logical channel. The C/T field serves this purpose.
Identification of each dedicated logical channel is performed by using the C/T field for the following reasons. First, unlike common logical channels, a plurality of dedicated logical channels can be mapped to one transport channel at the same time. Second, a dedicated logical channel is handled by the MAC-d in the SRNC, whereas the other common logical channels are handled by the MAC-c/sh. A plurality of the dedicated logical channels that are mapped to the same transport channel have their logical channel identities, respectively. Additionally, such value is used as a C/T field value. If only one dedicated logical channel exists for the transport channel, the C/T field is not used.
Table 1 below shows the different identifiers of a MAC header that are used according to the mapping relationship between logical channels and transport channels for FDD. In Table 1, a C/T field exists when several dedicated logical channels (DCCH or DTCH) are mapped. Also, “N” indicates that there is no header, “-” indicates that there is no mapping relationship, and “UE-ID” indicates that both a UE-ID field and a UE-ID type field exist. A UE-ID field always exists together with a UE-ID type field.
TABLE 1DCHRACHFACHDSCHCPCHBCHPCHDCCHC/TTCTFTCTFUE-IDUE-ID——orUE-IDUE-IDC/TC/TDTCHC/TC/TBCCH——TCTF——N—PCCH——————NCCCH—TCTFTCTF————CTCH——TCTF————
As shown in the above table, in the related art, common type of logical channels like the BCCH, PCCH, CCCH, and CTCH do not have a C/T field to identify each logical channel. This is because, in the related art, there is no need to multiplex several common logical channels of the same type into a single transport channel. The reason is that since the same information is transmitted on the common logical channels of the same type, the receiving end (Receiver) does not have to receive more than one common logical channel of the same type at the same time. Therefore, a single common transport channel like the FACH or RACH always carries only one common logical channel of the same type, and there is no need to add a C/T field for the common logical channels in the related art.
Recently, a new type of service called MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service) has been proposed. MBMS is a PS (Packet Switched) domain service of transferring multimedia data such as audio, pictures, video, etc. to a plurality of terminals using a unidirectional point-to-multipoint bearer service. When the UMTS network 1 provides a specific MBMS using a multicast mode, UEs to be provided with the service must first complete a subscription procedure establishing a relationship between a service provider and each UE individually. Thereafter, the subscriber UE receives a service announcement from the core network 200 confirming subscription and including, for example, a list of services to be provided.
Since MBMS data is shared by multiple users, it should be transmitted through a common logical channel as in the related art. However, since MBMS is a multimedia service, multiple services of different QoS or multiple streams of different QoS in the same service may be provided to a single UE or to different UEs. That is, it is expected that multiple common logical channels of the same type need to be mapped to the same transport channel when providing MBMS.
In the related art, however, multiple common logical channels of the same type are typically not mapped to the same transport channel. One problem is that there is no common logical channel identifier in the MAC header. Another problem is that there is no identification function in the MAC-c/sh. Therefore, a new functionality of common logical channel identification should be considered when MBMS or other type of packet switched (PS) domain service is to be provided.
Moreover, in MBMS, there is a one-to-one mapping relationship between an MBMS service and a common logical channel such as an MTCH (MBMS Traffic Channel). Thus, because multiple common logical channels of the same type are to be mapped to the same transport channel when providing MBMS, as stated above, multiple MBMS services may be transmitted through the same transport channel. Consequently, a mobile terminal can simultaneously receive different services transmitted through the same transport channel.
The different MBMS services are globally identified by an MBMS service identifier. However, there potentially exist thousands of different services. If the MBMS service identifier is used, then a MAC header, including the MBMS service identifier, for allowing the mobile terminal to distinguish the different services would be very big in size and a large overhead would exist during transmission. Therefore, a method for identifying the different services while keeping the MAC header small in size is needed.